Three area athletes commit to colleges

Saturday

Nov 17, 2012 at 6:00 AM

Three more area athletes finalized their college plans this week. St. Peter-Marian High pitchers Zach Zona (UMass) and Jack Riley (Connecticut) and Marlboro High catcher Matt Buroni (Le Moyne) all signed national letters of intent to play baseball.

The Texas Rangers are going to defend the Alamo. The 20-year-old Alamodome, which has hosted NFL games, the NCAA Final Four and the NBA Finals, will host baseball for the first time when the Rangers and San Diego Padres play two exhibition games March 29-30. San Antonio is home to the Padres’ Double-A affiliate, the Missions. To prepare the Alamodome for baseball, AstroTurf will build a 133,000 square-foot custom field. The right-field pole will be only 280 feet from home plate, and there will be a 16-foot-high wall in right. It will be 395 feet to straightaway center. Seating capacity will be 52,295.

The Atlanta Braves agreed to a two-year deal with backup catcher Gerald Laird. The 33-year-old Laird has appeared in the last two World Series. He played for the Detroit Tigers this past season and the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. The Braves targeted Laird after David Ross, who backed up Brian McCann the past four seasons, signed with the Red Sox.

Ai Miyazato of Japan felt as if she couldn’t miss yesterday. Her final putt dropped for an 8-under 64 and a one-shot lead in the season-ending Titleholders in Naples, Fla. Miyazato, who has won twice this year, shot the low round of the tournament, giving her a one-shot lead over U.S. Women’s Open champion Na Yeon Choi.

Michael Campbell led a host of 40-somethings atop the leaderboard at a Hong Kong Open that lost defending champion Rory McIlroy when he failed to make the cut yesterday. The 43-year-old Campbell holed a 10-foot birdie at the last hole for a 6-under 64 that gave him a one-stroke lead at 9 under on the Fanling course at Hong Kong GC. McIlroy shot a 72 to finish at 5 over after two rounds. Four other over-40s were right behind Campbell.

Referee Tony Corrente has been fined one game check by the NFL for uttering some obscenities with his microphone on during a Nov. 4 game in Indianapolis between the Colts and Miami Dolphins. The fine was imposed by NFL officiating director Carl Johnson. A referee of Corrente’s experience earns approximately $9,000 a game. In the fourth quarter of the game, Corrente inadvertently left his microphone open during a conference with members of the officiating crew.

Hall of Famer Mike Ditka has had a minor stroke, an ESPN producer said. ESPN’s Seth Markman posted on Twitter that the former Chicago Bears coach and player fell ill yesterday and will not appear on the network’s NFL shows this weekend. Markman wrote that Ditka “wanted everyone to know he’s ok.”

Jacksonville defensive tackle Terrance Knighton has been fined $25,000 by the NFL for making helmet-to-helmet contact with Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who was defenseless at the time. The hit came in Indianapolis’ victory Nov. 8 at Jacksonville and negated an interception by Aaron Ross. Jaguars safety Dawan Landry was fined $10,000 for a fourth-quarter hit on Luck that made contact to the head and neck area after Luck declared himself down by sliding feet first. Fined $21,000 were 49ers defensive lineman Ray McDonald for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Rams quarterback Sam Bradford last Sunday, and Minnesota linebacker Jasper Brinkley for a helmet hit on a defenseless Lions player.

Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo was fined $25,000 for a late hit on Buffalo running back C.J. Spiller in last weekend’s game in Foxboro. Pats cornerback Alfonzo Dennard was fined $7,975 for hitting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick out of bounds.

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick will miss tomorrow’s game against the Washington Redskins due to the effects of a concussion. Rookie Nick Foles, who replaced Vick during the 38-23 loss to Dallas last Sunday, will get his first NFL start in a battle of 3-6 teams fighting to save their seasons.

The Chicago Bears said quarterback Jay Cutler will miss Monday’s game at San Francisco because of a concussion. Jason Campbell is expected to start in his place against the 49ers. Cutler’s status was in question after he sat out the second half of Sunday’s loss to Houston. The Bears believe he was injured on a helmet-to-helmet hit late in the second quarter by the Texans’ Tim Dobbins, who was fined $30,000 by the league.

San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh returned to work a day after undergoing a minor procedure for an irregular heartbeat. He returned to the field to lead San Francisco through yesterday’s walk-through session and full practice in the afternoon. Harbaugh had his procedure Thursday.

Saint Louis men’s basketball coach Rick Majerus will not return to the team because of his heart condition. The 64-year-old Majerus ended the school’s 12-year NCAA Tournament drought last season with a 26-win team. Jim Crews, added to the coaching staff last season, is the school’s interim coach.

Brad Keselowski, who goes into tomorrow’s season finale race at Homestead, Fla., with a 20-point lead over five-time champion Jimmie Johnson and needs only to finish 15th or better to win his first Sprint Cup title, qualified third in his Penske Racing Dodge. Johnson was 10th in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.